A technical dictionary of printmaking, André Béguin.
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initial
Initials are typographical characters whose size is larger than that of the rest of the characters in the text (they have no shoulder or beard). At time initials are specially made and ornamented in various ways. Initials are used at the beginning of texts and are often surrounded by the text itself (these are known as the drop line initials). Modern initials can be compared to uncial letters which were the richly illuminated letters used at the beginning of inscriptions. The round letters first used in the 4th century, known as uncial letters, were later replaced by gothic letters.
Ornamented letters were traditionally capitals but in modern typographic work there are also small ornamented letters, even though their ornamentation has become quite simple. Ornamental initials are used at the beginning of chapters.
[typography].
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